Aim: come to find out a way to get into Baggage Claim Area, and interview passengers who are waiting for their baggage.

Reason: Travellers have limited time when travelling; they tend to have no time to take interview and fill out a questionnaire, but when they are waiting for their baggage, they might want to spare a little time to talk with me.

There are three floors in Heathrow Terminal 1 building. -1 Floor is for transportation like local buses, Underground and Heathrow Express; Ground Floor is for Arrivals; and First Floor is for Departures. I came to Ground Floor, walked towards the tunnel in which passengers are arriving from. There was a big red sign of ‘No Entry’ in front of the tunnel. I need to think of how to get to the Baggage Claim Area. There is an Information Desk in front of the tunnel, so I asked a staff near the desk. I clarified my identity and ask whether it is possible to have access to the Baggage Claim Area. He said I need to have the airport’s ID pass to get in there. I offered some conditions like can I get in there with some university letters or I can go there with a staff with me. The staff near the info desk said it might be possible but he was not sure. I was told go to upstairs which is the Departure Floor and advised to speak to Security.

Cant get into baggage claim area

information desk

At this stage, this mess makes me rethink why I need to have access to the Baggage claim area. I might cause the passengers miss their luggage which they are waiting for. This is an disadvantage aspect. Plus they are in a new, strange/unfamiliar country, the passengers might not want to speak to anyone. Nobody has done a field work in baggage claim area, it might have a reason. But there are advantages. The participants for my research I am looking for are international travellers. Travellers normally have very limited time. When they are waiting for their luggage, they might want to have a char. And it is a place where my best participants will gather: British going to Beijing and Chinese coming to London. I can now 1) give up or 2) go to talk to the security. I chose the later and went upstairs.

On the First Floor, I hang around the departure gates in front of security check, talked to the staff who was handing out transparent bags for on-board cosmetics. He turned out to be a person whose responsibility was just handing out bags… The staff near him redirected me to a corner where real security was. It is a woman, and after I explained what I want, she introduced me to her supervisor, Dan. After talking with Dan, I have two answers.

The first is I can’t have access to the baggage claim area, not even if I offer university letters, or on the condition of having a staff with me. A person needs to hold a airport staff ID pass to go there and because of airport security control, no one else will be allowed in there. Secondly, I need to speak to the Media Department to have the permission of doing research in the airport. The info for Media Depart can be found on Heathrow’s website.

When i was hanging around in the airport, there were several things caught my attention. In the bookstore WH Smith (on First floor the departure hall), there is an area for souvenirs. Postcards are outstanding because their spacial arrangement is very clear. Postcards related to Royal family stay in a line, and natural scenery another. Saw a Royal mail stand near the souvenir area, which is very convenient for passengers to post the postcards they just bought.

postcards space arrangement

Royal Mail stand

On the ground floor for Arrival, there is a maps (ads) stand near the arriving tunnel. The maps and ads are in English and they are introducing tourist spots like theatre, London Eye, Kensington Palace, etc., and suddenly I found a Chinese Edition of this and in this map, shopping centres are marked out outstandingly. This map which specializing luxury shopping confirms my assumption that so many Chinese interest in luxury shopping and the reason might be the products are not just luxuries but also souvenirs from a Capital Western world.

Ads stand

Chinese edition specialising shopping centre

I saw many money exchange stands (Bureau de change) on this floor, and it occurred to me that foreign currency can be souvenirs as well. Small amount of cash and coins are kept from the journey (the amount is too small that the Bureau de change will not take it, they are forced to become souvenirs). When money stops moving, it doesn’t have the value of money, it became a new thing – banal souvenir (will talk more about this in the future) [Link to Marx’s Capital, on Money].

My first day of field work shows that I need to find alternative method of doing this research. I will go to try Chinese Embassy (where people get Chinese visas from), and talk to Chinese travel agencies and London travel agencies.

When I was typing this, my first field work diary of polit field work, the idea of putting this into my blog hit me. So here we go. 🙂 Hope you enjoy reading and give me some advice if you have some.